Case of Anxiety
by Door Is Ajar
Summary: Tori Vega's been acting weird. Once her parents find out and form an idea as to her problem, it's time for her friends too help her out with this little demon she has been given called anxiety.
1. Chapter 1

"Case of Anxiety"_  
_

_It started out small, just like everything else. But it suddenly escalated to the point that nobody knew it would happen._

First it was simple remarks, filled with sarcasm, dripping with every word she spoke. It was followed by her mimicry, which- as with anyone, really- annoyed her to no end when she knew her voice didn't quite sound like that. Her stupid stunts were the worst, starting with coffee being poured on her head the first day of school. Next was the trick with blood, just to get the lead of Steamboat Suzy. (Yes, she did eventually learn about that through some slip of the tongue.)

_When it grew to be more than that, though, her friends had a right to be worried, even if none truly felt that way._

Outside events like trying to please everyone possible and then the less vague Ponnie event. All the strain and the key word _anxiety_. More events from the person in question only made her more of a basket case, filled to the brim and sometimes jumping at her friends simply walking up behind her and greeting her. Tripping her on the way to class, forcing her to deal with break-up problems, taking the blame on multiple accounts for something she wasn't even involved in- it led up and consumed her, the events causing her to worry and fret that every little thing would be alright.

_She really shouldn't of been worried about making it in America, just making it through the day._

The Platinum Music Awards took so much out of her she nearly thought her brain would explode. Firstly from just landing the deal, then to lying to her friends, and then to be kicked off of the show. Finally she was slapped in the face- hard- to have to perform, the worry and _anxiety_ bubbling up and forcing her to hide it away from her friends.

_One particular day, she had seemed to reach her status quo, to which only the people on the outside of her life wouldn't notice._

Andre stepped up to her locker, her head already buried inside o find the next book for class.

"Hey, Tori," he called in his same, boisterous tone that, this time apparently, seemed to come from absolutely no where.

"Hu?" she flipped around, quite suddenly at that. Once her eyes fell on him, her body physically relaxed the slightest bit. "Oh, hey, Andre."

"What's the matter?" he asked. This caught his own attention- the way she was so jumpy all of a sudden- and concerned him with searching around them for the source of her discomfort.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just about to head to lunch. You?"

"Same. Come on, I'll treat you."

With that, Tori shut her locker and followed Andre to the Asphalt Cafe. Cat and Robbie were already seated, with Beck appearing right after they came into the view of the two. Tori and Andre situated themselves on seats around the table before Cat or Robbie even noticed them.

"Hey, guys," Andre greeted.

"Hey, man."

"Hello~!"

"Hi."

Beck plopped himself down beside Tori, which instantly caught her attention, if he obviously knew what would-

"Move, Vega." She couldn't comply to the girl's wish, as she was already being pushed out of her seat and on to the ground. Just another wonderful day to be hanging out with jade West.

All of them- even Jade- were expecting Tori to come back with some almost equally bitter reply, like, "You could have at least let me move myself," or "Thank you, I've always wanted to be pushed to the ground." Instead they were only greeted by a girl leaning on her arms outstretched behind herself to keep her body up, as well as a gaping mouth and worried eyes.

"Tori-" Andre began.

"I'll..." she stood up, backing away slowly, "I'll be right back..." She turned from the four and was off, running back into the school.

All eyes were on Jade.

"What?! If she has some issues, she needs to work them out herself," Jade smugly replied.

This gained a groan from Andre. "Look, you know she's only trying to be nice to you. Don't you think you could lay off being a total gank for at least a day?" He was out of his seat after that, slinging his backpack over one should to look for Tori.

It took him some time- about five minutes, but that was really too much for him- and found her hiding in the janitor's closet. She was seated on the ground, under the "Secret Passageway" to the library, inhaling and exhaling deeply, slowly. He knew it wasn't from running away, though.

"Hey, Tori," he softy spoke, gently and so-quietly shutting the door behind himself. He took a few steps forward before sitting on the floor beside her.

It was quiet for a minute or two before she broke the silence.

"Andre... Can I tell you something?" By then she had calmed her breathing more, but he could still detect the wavering in her voice.

"What is it?"

"I... I think I might have a problem... or something..." She started off slow, but he wasn't going to push her. "My parents have noticed it, and I'm scared. They think it's... like, anxiety."

She wouldn't meet his eyes, but that sadly worried him more.

"Wait, you- Tori Vega- the girl who tried to continue a play after giving three bag-fulls of blood and who performed on the Platinum Music Awards? The girl who deals with Jade's wrath daily and dishes it right back at her? You gotta be yanking my chain her, girl." His gave a small laugh at the end, but the absence of hers made him regret it.

"That's... That's just it. They say all this performing is getting me overly stressed. And Jade, I just... I want to be her friend- you know that. But she obviously doesn't. And what makes it worse is having to... I guess fear what she'll do each day. That's why I just freaked out when she pushed me out of the seat, because I wasn't prepared for her. At least, not until I had tricked my mind into believing it was just a silly prank, rather than something I should fear."

With the knowledge of not only why she had been jittery the past few days but what her parents thought of her, Andre couldn't help but want to talk a few cents worth into Jade.

"Alright, girl. You just hang with me all day. I'll make sure Jade doesn't try anything, see if that helps. Sound good?"

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Andre."

"No problem. Let me just fetch your backpack," he replied, standing back up and leaving her alone in the closet.

He rushed back to the Asphalt Cafe, intent on returning to Tori as soon as possible. However, when he got Jade in his vision, he stopped before he could see Tori's backpack.

"Hey, where's Tori?" Cat asked.

"Look, have any of you noticed how jumpy Tori's been the past couple of days?" he asked, leaning down to pick up the requested item.

"Have you figured out Vega's problem, then?" Jade asked with a hint of something- sarcasm maybe- spread across her words.

"As a matter of fact, I have. And you, Jade, should at least feel some remorse, if you can show emotion like that." He tried to keep the spiteful remark on the down side, but it still came out with hatred.

"And why's that?"

"Tori apparently is suffering from something like anxiety. You going around and-" Here Andre was cut off.

"Wait, wait," Beck began. "Tori has anxiety? Almost like what your grandma has or something?"

"Not to that extent. It's just what her parents believe. But, look, I'm supposed to be heading back to her now." Andre directed his line of sight to Jade. "At least try to be nice, you know she would if this was you."

Jade hated to believe it, but she knew in complete honesty that Andre was right. So overly right that it hurt to make her think- even for just a second- that she couldn't be mean to Tori in the least bit. That was what kept her from tripping Tori later that day.

After lunch, Cat, Robbie, Beck, and Jade went directly to Sikowitz's class. When the door opened, they were greeted by Andre, Tori following in after him. He was already in his seat on the first row when Tori started to walk down the row, after closing the door. The girl looked so easy to just trip- all Jade had to do was stick her leg out, and she would go plummeting to the floor.

The only thing stopping her was standing up suddenly, glad the classroom was filled only with kids talking to one another before class was to start. However, this back-fired, as Tori apparently tripped over her own two feet, causing Jade to catch her before smacking into the floor.

Now on her feet again, Tori looked at Jade, her mouth gaping out of fear for something to say. "I-I'm sorry, Jade, I didn't mean to... I just... I..." Her free hand, the one that wasn't carrying a book, came up to her heart, as if that would stop it from beating a mile a minute.

"Tori, relax." Jade couldn't be more happy when Andre stepped into the picture. This directed the girl's attention to the boy, with him taking her hand off of her chest and bringing her to sit next to him in the front row.

Class remained normal after that, and Andre thanked the Lord that Tori wasn't called up to the front once. At the sound of the bell, Andre told Tori to head on to the next class without him, and that he would catch up. He occupied his few minutes of free time with grabbing Jade and keeping her alone in the classroom.

"What do you want?" she nearly yelled from being yanked away from the crowd.

"Look, I just wanted to thank you, for earlier."

"Yeah, whatever-"

"Jade, I don't think you understand how big this can get. I'm sure Tori would never go this far, but you've seen my grandma. Even you don't want that to happen to Tori." Jade simply stared at Andre, not planning on giving any fear- even if she didn't think she had a reason to be scared...- away by not even swallowing the slight lump in her throat. "Now will you please just try to avoid upsetting her? If you won't do it for me or Tori, do it for yourself, or even Beck or Cat. Heck, I wouldn't care if it was Robbie."

His eyes remained locked with her, and he left after a few silent seconds, hoping his word got across to her.

That apparently was all the convincing she needed, and after an awkward talk with Beck that night over texts, he had completely convinced her, claiming she should do at least that for her boyfriend. The following day, Jade thought her tongue would bleed, keeping back the bitter remarks one after another.

Arriving to school with Beck, she found Tori sitting below her locker typing something into her laptop. She had a distant look in her eyes, as if whatever she was reading was beyond just interesting. Usually she would mock the girl, saying something like, "Oh, Tori, you look just so content. Maybe I should get you a pillow and a blanket to top if off," in her signature fake-accent. A soft prodding to her side by Beck's elbow accompanied by a somewhat threatening glare got the message through to not say it aloud.

Next came Sikowitz's class, where the awkward teacher called Tori up to the front. She complied, granted hesitantly. He handed her a card with a line for her to speak after none other than Jade herself spoke her own. Jade read aloud the first line on the card and the whole class waited patiently for the girl to speak.

"C-Can I be excused? I- I don't feel too good..." Her eyes met no one else's for more than a second.

Jade was sure she could of made a wonderful comeback, even making the greatest of Tori's friends laugh. Instead she remembered to bite her tongue, to not say a single word that might spike the girl's stress. "Oh, Miss Vega, how am I ever going to become a great actor like you if I have to crap every time that I'm on stage?" Her same accent, but she kept it in her mind, locked away from everyone's ears.

Sikowitz had excused her, but Jade followed out with her, saying she "forgot a book in her locker." Worst excuse ever, but one she could quickly come up with.

She found the girl pacing around in the hallway near her locker, hugging herself and mumbling downward to the floor. Jade- through her normal mean demeanor- hated to see the girl jump at the sudden appearance of herself.

She backed up a few steps, gripping herself tighter. "I'm sorry, alright? I just- I couldn't... I felt like a wanted to puke and I don't know why 'cause I'm never scared to, just, you know, act in front of everyone. And- And then my hands- they just won't stop. They just- They keep shaking, and I'm scared because this isn't like me." She looked into Jade's eyes instead of the floor now. Tori had tears in her eyes, keeping a strain on the girl not to let them fall. "I don't know what to do. My parents say it's stress- you know- from school and junk, but then they also say other things, that I don't want to think are true. And-"

"Like what?" Jade cut her off, her voice hollow.

"What?"

"What other things do your parents say your stress is from?" she asked, firmly.

She didn't reply at first. Her eyes went back to the floor. "They gave me all these examples. Like just helping Andre and them... And then they said doing the plays and signing. Trina was the one to bring it up, though. She... She said that you probably give me the most stress..." Her voice stayed quiet, as if she was scared to say it. Whether it was in fear that Jade would unleash some kind of wrath or that it would harm the girl's feelings, Jade wasn't sure.

So, in an extreme case of a very un-Jade-like manner, she stepped closer to Tori and placed her hands on Tori's arms, right below her shoulders. "I'm not that cruel, and you know that from when Trina had that whole accident in the play you directed. So can you somehow please tell me how I give you any kind of stress?"

Tori again wouldn't look at her. This only upset Jade by the fact she seemingly did have something to do with Tori's problems.

"This is so stupid... You know, I've tried so hard just to be your friend, even if that's the stupidest or lamest thing you've ever heard. But it was always shot down by you either blatantly rejecting that or some kind of verbal remark. It just... I think I'm just putting to much strain on my body, if I listen to what my parents believe, that is...

A pause. "Look, I'll... I'll try to be nicer, alright? But if I screw up I don't want to hear it, even though I wouldn't want to anyway." Opposite from her chat with Andre, she swallowed thickly, hoping her statement didn't somehow put more stress or nerves on her.

"Gee, thanks, Jade. That's such a nice way to put it," Tori replied, but Jade realized before already spitting back a remark that her playful banter, or whatever she called it, only did a horrible job at masking her nerves bubbling up, which was shown through the muscles in her arms tightening.

"First off you gotta relax. Just because I decide to say something mean-"

"I can't."

"What'd you say?"

"I-I can't. I've tried all this stuff that Trina told me about, like yoga or just a warm bath or something, but I just can't calm down. You know, m-my hands haven't stopped shaking since yesterday after lunch. I kind of freaked myself out more when I woke up to them like this."

Jade mentally cursed herself. The only reason Vega's hands were easily showing off her fright was because she shoved her off of the lunch table. It sounded pretty stupid to her, but if she really already had mounds of stress on her, something simple could easily tip her over the edge.

Before Jade could reply, the bell sounded for the next class. She looked behind herself to see that there was yet to be anyone coming their way. "Look, Vega, since we both have to get moving, I'll just leave you be for a while. See if that does anything to help."

The other girl gave a quick, "Alright," before Jade walked off, back behind to where she came from Sikowitz's class. She nearly rammed right into Andre, who stood around the corner.

"Thanks, Jade. Seriously."

* * *

_Author's Note: Anyone interested? Click the little review button to tell me if you are interested at all, or if this is a loss cause. XD I want to apologize in advance for any extremely late updates due to school._


	2. Chapter 2

_Her mind was ready to crack._

They all wanted to not believe it, to push into their minds that Tori Vega was fine. But they couldn't. They couldn't put their problems onto her anymore, and they knew without a doubt that the slightest form of stress onto her weakened mind, and body, would cause her un-sturdy wall to crumble. Jade even had it down to keep back the remarks and the physical assaults.

_But not everything they had could be kept hidden.  
_

Andre had a song to perform. He needed a back-up singer, and the only person he would even want to do it was Tori.

Jade was getting to the end of her charades. She had to stop herself in the middle- the _middle_- of a huge comeback that was pure gold. All for dumb Vega's health sake.

Beck needed to practice desperately for a play he was doing for school. The only problem was that little Tori had no idea Sikowitz had chosen her during her run-off in the middle of class for one of the lead roles.

Robbie... Well Robbie was somewhat of a mess, and the only big problem he would even consider asking Tori about currently was a school project for science or another regular class.

Cat was a mess in her own. She bothered the other friends, asking what was wrong with her. They would all answer similarly: "She just needs to relax." So the red-head would stay quiet with Tori around, scared out of her mind that she would upset Tori.

And that was where they were, as-of-currently. None had the heart to tell Tori a single thing on their mind, but it only blew up in their face. Two days after the event in Sikowitz's class at lunch, Tori was busy picking her fork around her salad, hoping it was doing a good job of looking as if she was eating. Her other friends sat rather quietly, typing stuff into the phones or starting a few-sentence conversation with one another.

"Can I, um, ask you guys something?" Tori softly asked.

"Go on."

"Sure thing."

"Shoot us up."

Andre, Beck, and Robbie replied, almost together.

"Why have you guys all been acting so different lately? Is there something wrong with, like, all of you or something?"

No one had the nerve to speak. It took Andre a few seconds to compose himself. "Tori, look, we've just been bored lately. You know, we haven't had anything to do, so we don't have much to talk about."

A what-should-be hard glare was sent his way, but it was only really a look telling him what he already knew. "You don't have to lie. Please just tell me?"

A sigh escaped him. "We've just been laying off coming to you for all of our problems. We didn't realize just how much we've constantly needed from you. So-"

"Wait wait, you guys needed help with stuff, and I could of... you know, helped and... and I kind of just... failed you all for the-the..." She was rambling, and she couldn't stop, her mind trying to process just apparently what a big disappointment she was to her friends.

"Tori, no, it's not that," Robbie argued.

"We don't want you flipping out and feeling like you gotta puke," Jade confirmed, less nicely than the others would of preferred.

"But what if something bad happens? And from the beginning I could of been there to prevent it or-or to at least help somehow?"

"We're all fine," Beck assured.

"Girl, relax. Just take a deep breath now," Andre attempted to sooth. He reached a hand over to rub her back, but she was already crumbling, her wall falling with her.

"Vega, chill out. God what is your-" Jade was caught off as Tori wobbly made it to her feet, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. She ran away from the group like she had a few days prior. They were all left stunned into silence.

They all knew the only people who could even help Tori was Andre or Jade, the latter only because she might be hiding in the girl's bathroom via puking.

"I'll go look for her," Jade complied when Andre and Beck looked at her somewhat pleadingly.

Andre followed after her, knowing that- unless she was the the girl's restroom- he would be able to help. The two split up inside the school, and unfortunately for Andre, he sucked up any humiliation he had to walktz straight into the girl's restroom with Jade, after she announced Tori was in fact in there.

By the time he entered the last stall- after making sure absolutely no one was looking and that no one else was in the entire room- Jade was already rubbing circles on her back as she emptied her stomach. Jade has a grimace on her face, and Andre couldn't hold back making one of his own.

However, Jade sucked it up once she saw the boy's face, figuring that if she was already doing this crap for Vega, she shouldn't worry the girl anymore with facial features. With Tori seemingly done vomiting what Jade and Andre figured couldn't be much of anything, she held her stomach tighter, giving a nearly inaudible groan.

"Sorry..." she mumbled.

"Can it, Vega. We're already in this, and it's our own fault for not lying to you," Jade said harshly.

"But I just..." Tori brought the bottom edges of her hands up to her eyes, desperately trying to stop herself from crying or from nerves showing through. (Her friends saw through with her hands still vibrating like crazy, though.) "I needed to just- I-I wanted to help, and-"

"That's the problem," Jade started. She knew Andre wanted to get a word in, especially if he was going through the troubles of being in the girl's restroom. "You're putting to much stress on yourself. I think it's obvious you have a major problem, or else I wouldn't be acting like an actual friend to you."

Jade leaned over to the side of the wall, ripping a large ball of toilet paper off of the contraption. "Here, if you need it," she nearly-whispered.

Tori took the wad and wiped her face, even though there was practically nothing to clean. She continued to wipe around her mouth and her hands, but nothing would come off, simply because there was nothing to clean. She eventually threw it into the toilet, disgusted just to have to look at it.

"Let's go back to class. We have a play to rehearse for," Andre suggested.

Jade extended her hand in front of the girl, who took it, grasping at it as if she would fall without the contact. Andre grabbed for her other hand, a little shocked at just how much force he had to use to keep her standing. Jade used her foot to flush the toilet behind them filled with Tori's disposed food.

The three headed back to class, both Andre and Jade holding Tori's hand as she gripped it. The death-hold she had on them even made Jade grimace once or twice but knew it was for the better, to allow Vega to relax her body. When the neared the door to class, Tori shakily released her holds on her two friends (or whatever Jade was) so as to no appear suspicious entering the room. Andre opened the door for the two girls, and Tori entered first. She plopped herself down in the last row to the right, not wanting to risk stepping to the very front of the classroom. Jade and Andre followed, to which Andre closed the door and was thankful so many people stared at them to give him an excuse.

"Sorry, we'll just sit back here."

This caught Jade's attention, but she sat down to Tori's left, as if it was implied she had to go along with him. Andre situated himself to Tori's right, and the rest of the class directed their attention back to Sikowitz.

"As I was saying, there will be a play next week, which we are already aware has Beck and Tori as the lead roles. That leads me to my next topic- Tori, where have you been the last few rehearsals?"

Andre and Jade stopped breathing. They knew Beck had to be worrying the same thing.

"I-I didn't know there was one," she answered.

Sikowitz stared at Tori funny for a second but decided it best to not ask further questions concerning her well-being. "Well, as a last resort, we can either have a few extra rehearsals to get Tori caught up, or Jade can play the part, being her understudy."

Andre gave Tori a slight nudge and a glance at Jade.

"I'll take the lead." She stopped talking and looked at Tori for a second with a small smirk that only she could see. "I don't think Vega could get caught up that quickly."

"Tori, is that alright?" Sikowitz asked.

She hesitated a moment, staring at Jade. "Y-Yeah, that's... fine..."

Even Jade could see her jaw tense up, and she jabbed Tori in the side, a little too hard for even her own liking. By then Sikotwitz had returned his attention to the rest of the class and didn't see Tori take a sharp intake, slightly bending over.

"Oow..." she whispered, bending over to talk into her knees.

She slowly leaned back up, but her arms remained wrapped around herself to stunt the pain. Leaning over, she whispered in Jade's ear. "That really hurt, you know..."

"Then loosen up. Staying tense will just make it worse."


End file.
